DAVIE, Fla.-- The diverse patterns on the diamondback terrapins' intricately grooved shell may be their claim to fame, but a newly published U.S. Geological Survey study of the genetic variation underneath their shell holds one key to rescuing these coastal turtles.

Listed as an endangered species in Rhode Island and deemed threatened in Massachusetts, the terrapin is the only turtle in North America that spends its entire life in coastal marshes and mangroves. Seven different subspecies of terrapins are currently recognized by scientists based on external traits, such as their skin color and the shape of their shells. Each subspecies occupies a strip of the eastern seaboard or Gulf of Mexico coastline, from as far north as Massachusetts to as far west as Texas.

If wine leaves a bitter, cotton-like coating on the tongue, don't blame your nose or even your sense of smell, say the authors of a paper in
Chemical Senses.

Instead, blame your nerves. The traditional oak barrel character, also called barrique character, is perceived via the trigeminal nerve, which is responsible for, among other things, pain and temperature perception. 

The melting of a rather small ice volume on East Antarctica's shore could trigger a persistent ice discharge into the ocean, resulting in unstoppable sea-level rise for thousands of years to come, according to computer simulations of the Antarctic ice flow by scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

They detail their estimates in Nature Climate Change.

Utah youth with suspected sports-related head injuries visit emergency rooms far more often since the state's concussion law passed in 2011, and with that boost in defensive medicine came a rise in head CT scans -- leading to potentially unnecessary radiation exposure along with the high costs that defensive medicine brings for health care overall. 

The study examined Intermountain Healthcare's emergency department database for 19 hospitals in Utah between September 1, 2009 and September 1, 2012. Researchers wanted to know if the number of children and teenagers with suspected sports-related head injuries between ages 6 and 18 who came to hospital emergency departments changed, if the number of CT scans grew, and what those scans revealed.

Animal hoarding is a psychological disorder where a person accumulates a large numbers of animals at home, usually cats and dogs, without providing them with a minimal standard of care.

Details about the cause of the disorder remain largely unknown and but it obviously has a negative effect on the health of both the people who suffer from it and the animals involved.  Researchers from Hospital del Mar Research Institute writing in Animal Welfare have tackled the first European study to compile data on this disorder   

Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed of Hungary was such a prolific serial killer she has been termed "The Blood Countess". Her vampire-like tendencies - especially bathing in the blood of young women to supposedly keep her skin young - became folklore.

Virginal blood is not going to prevent wrinkles - even Joe Mercola would not try to sell that as a remedy - but researchers say something — or some things — in the blood of young mice can restore mental capabilities in old mice. Will it hold true for humans? If so, poor kids need to watch out. Wealthy elites will find a way to make it government policy.